Chapter 992: Loopholes Are Fun
It is necessary to mention how White Flame sees Hao Ren and his gang here.
White Flame had the impression that Hao Ren’s place was a very tricky unusual creature sanctuary.
A hundred years of experience was nothing to shout about in the world of demon hunters. But White Flame was a rising star among her peers, rising to become a master in her own right. While she followed Ha.s.se, who was an excellent mentor, she had been able to go to many places around the world. She knew the secrets of many unusual creature families and had gathered a lot of intel about their sanctuaries. Hence, she knew how a shelter would look like: heavily guarded, secretive and st.u.r.dy, hidden in the shadows of the real world. It would be as hard to penetrate as a fortress in the core of the earth. A sanctuary was usually a small, self-sustaining world like the Athens Sanctuary to ensure it could survive in isolation. Such shadowy dimensions were the most common form. Moreover, these sanctuaries had the common features of cla.s.s distinction, the rivalry between races, militarized management, and harsh laws.
However, Hao Ren’s sanctuary had smashed her conventional understanding of unusual creature sanctuaries.
Living in a small building in a human city, running around town to find jobs—the sanctuary and the unusual creatures it sheltered were completely conspicuous, living in broad daylight. The best part was that the vampire and werewolf were also housemates. If someone told her that there was such a sanctuary a year ago, her first reaction would be to have the person lie down and have her pour a bowl of herbal medicine soup down his throat.
As time went by, White Flame had a better understanding of Hao Ren’s sanctuary, but she was barely scratching the surface. The more she found out, the more confused she got. These strange weirdoes—the oldest and most famous vampire countess, an unknown demon race comparable to the ancient deities, the landlord who was also a sorcerer with endless list of explosives and weapon of ma.s.s destruction, the usually reclusive siren who now became part of Hao Ren’s team; and the husky had their individual strengths. The group appeared to be a collection of demons and monsters, making White Flame wonder how they managed to get along happily.
Not to mention, there were also demon hunters in the mix, which made it hard even for Ha.s.se to fill the credibility gap.
Slowly, White Flame learned more about Hao Ren. For example, the fact that Hao Ren may have a hidden force behind him, that he could shuttle around and between different worlds, that he knew a lot of things outside this planet, and much more. She was under constant perceptive bombardment from all kinds of intelligence beyond her current knowledge. Even Ha.s.se, her well-learned teacher found it hard to make sense of them and needed sleeping pills to fall asleep so that he could sort his mind out.
Occasionally, White Flame would indulge in things that suited her age, such as reading comics and novels. So, she gradually saw the weirdoes in Hao Ren’s sanctuary as something similar to secret teams in urban legends. Regardless, one thing she never thought of was Hao Ren having an army under his command.
She looked at Hao Ren, feeling stunned as he mooted the idea of sending in troops. She turned to look at the others. “You mean you have a larger group of people hiding deeper in the sanctuary?” she asked.
She thought that Hao Ren’s house was just a disguise. Some 30 km underground, there was probably a barrack as large as a city. Her imagination ran wild.
“It’s complicated. It involves deep-s.p.a.ce, superluminal navigation and the communication bias of different civilizations in the field of language expression. Simply put, go and get some rest,” Hao Ren said, pestering White Flame. “Vivian, could you let her rest on your bed first?”
After a long while of coaxing and forcing, the stubborn demon hunter finally relented and lay down while everyone else went back to the living room. Hao Ren took the MDT out and placed it on the coffee table. Looking somber, he said, “What would it be like if I send 100,000 troops into the demon hunters’ headquarters?”
“Well, at least you’re still aware of what you’re doing,” the MDT replied listlessly. “As an inspector, you can’t intervene in the civil war of any civilization. To be precise, inspectors cannot change the course of the history of any civilization in the form of ‘formal military intervention.’ Anyway, there are loopholes that you could exploit if you do things in your capacity. But once the mobilization of troops reaches a particular scale, and they directly partic.i.p.ate in the war, the situation will become murkier,” the MDT said.
“A similar situation happened the last time I brought an entire Aerymian fleet to Y’zaks’ homeworld,” Hao Ren said, scratching his jaw. “I remember it being permissible.
“Because we didn’t officially join the war last time,” the MDT said in a b.i.t.c.hy tone of voice. “Last time, it was just an escort mission and bringing some specimens back. The escorts encountered some ‘unknown hara.s.sment’ on the way back, and we used limited force for self-defense. It was restrained. The Aerymian fleet did not declare war on either side of the warring parties, and it did not explicitly support either party. So technically, that was not a military intervention,” the MDT explained.
It sounded like wordplay on the MDT’s part, but Hao Ren got the message. “I think I understand what you’ve just said: as long as there’s no formal war, no military support for or against anyone, it’s not considered a violation of the rules,” he said.
“And this time, the situation’s less tricky than what happened in Y’zaks’ homeworld,” the MDT reminded. “There was a war between all the races there and Y’zaks. The scale had reached a tipping point according to the recognized standard, which is ‘more than half of the members of a civilization being directly or indirectly involved in the war.’ Intervening in that situation was extremely sensitive. But this time, we’re only talking about a civil war between demon hunters. Are the demon hunters a civilization? They’re not even a registered race on Earth. Forget about war; we can a.s.sume that they’re partic.i.p.ating in a public battle. There’s more than one way to circ.u.mvent the ‘war’ definition,” the MDT said.
Listening on the side, Vivian was dumbstruck. “Really?”
“Why not? What do inspectors do? It’s also an administrative group. How would an inspector be a good administrator if he doesn’t know how to spin things?” the MDT spoke like it was serious. “You have to know the real purpose of the rules and regulations. Those rules and regulations are there to protect the civilizations’ ordinary course of evolution and prevent malformations. Then, the question comes: the demon hunters are only a secret society on Earth; are they a civilization?”
Everyone was speechless.
The MDT shook and continued, “Of course they’re not! Thanks to them for ending the Mythological Era and dragging themselves down along with it. Demons and monsters have not been the dominant civilizations for a long time. Now, the dominant civilization on Earth registered on the K1 Sovereign Hub is the human species!”
Hao Ren finally put two and two together. He felt that he had opened the door to a new world.
“So, as long as we confine the event within the world of the demon hunters, and avoid the suspicion of ‘expanding the war, we’ll have room to maneuver.” The MDT shook itself twice. “Although the Imperial Data Network checks for any inspector who has violated the restrictions 24 hours a day, there are always loopholes in the rules. In the end, all inspectors are mortals, and they deal with matters of other mortals. Since mortals are inconsistent, the implementation of the standards will be relatively lax. As long as we can solve the problem before it begins to affect the social order of mainstream society, we’re safe.”
The bottom line of the monitoring mechanism was: the leading civilization of Earth could not be affected.
“Settle it before the Council of Elders can spread the war outside of Coldpath,” Hao Ren said, nodding. “The army of Aerymian Elves should be able to handle the situation, considering their technological advantage over the demon hunters.”
But Y’zaks shook his head. “No, the Aerymian Elves are not suitable for this,” he said.
Hao Ren looked at the great demon in surprise. “Why not?”
“The Aerymian Elves don’t have combat experience.” Y’zaks tapped the table with his index finger and began to explain, “The last time they were dispatched, it was a deterrence in nature. To us demons, s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps were something beyond our comprehension, so their fleets appeared strong to us. But this time, we’re going to fight in a closed secret realm where the Aerymian s.p.a.cecraft and all kinds of ultra-long-range weapons would be rendered useless. The only way is to send in individual fighters. However, the Aerymian Elves are no match for the demon hunters in terms of combat skills. In my opinion, in a confined battlefield, the technological advantage of the Aerymian Elves would instead become a disadvantage.”
The a.n.a.lysis of the old war-monger was dead on. Hao Ren realized that this was a problem. “Where can I find veteran fighters in the tens of thousands?” he asked.
He smacked himself on the forehead as soon as he finished. “Ah, I almost forgot. Y’zaks, how are the men under your command? Have they gone rusty yet.”